Greedy Goblin

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Getting rid of the Malcanis-law

The Malcanis law says "Whenever a mechanics change is proposed on behalf of ‘new players’, that change is always to the overwhelming advantage of richer, older players." This was widely used to debunk any suggestion. I've always known that it's somehow wrong, but couldn't disprove it. Mostly, because it's literally correct, no matter what change you introduce (unless it's meaningless), more advanced players will benefit more from it.

But now it hit me: The Malcanis law isn't untrue, just meaningless, because keeping the status quo is a decision too, and the Malcanis law applies to it. I mean the current ruleset gives overwhelming advantage to the richer players, proven by the fact that they got rich while others stayed poor. If we'd change nothing, it would be madness to assume that this power disparity would ever diminish instead of growing.

Smarter, harder working and above all more play-to-win oriented players will always gain advantage over the "4 fun" morons and slackers. There is absolutely nothing you can do about it. You can add diminishing returns to progression (a WoW character gains much more power between lvl 1 and 100 than between fresh lvl 100 and top raider), you can give out welfare rewards (EVE insurance) but you can't possibly design a game with player decisions (Snakes and Ladders is a good example for games without it) where such power difference wouldn't appear. The Malcanis law merely apply this law to the mechanic changes, probably for the very purpose to support the (very uneven) status quo.

8 comments:

"Smarter, harder working and above all more play-to-win oriented players will always gain advantage over the "4 fun" morons and slackers."

Really?

The 4 fun guy with his disposable income blowing it on PLEX will have a teeny tiny bit of an advantage over a smarter, harder working guy, especially with the introduction of skill packets

The "new player" who currently buys 4 PLEX with RL money to get some "start up isk" will now blow that on skill points, and probably more.

Now, you can argue "ISK does not make a difference in game", but, you are not doing anything in game that requires anything but ISK. What is the difference in outcome between you running books and implants around, and some guy breaking out the credit card? Your running around with books and implants is to fund MoA....this could be achieved without logging in for more than a few minutes to redeem and list PLEX bought on the website.

And, shortly, excess isk, gained through those plex sales at almost 1.25b each, can be turned into something tangible ingame...it was always bad if someone flew a ship they didnt have the skills for, but now they can buy those skill points for isk, which can be got by selling plex, bought for RL cash.

Why waste time skilling up slowly, now you can just buy your way to fun.

"The wallet warriors pay the subscription of the players who are actually good."That really depends on what you consider "good". You just grind trades for example. You've said yourself before that you do nothing that anyone else couldn't do. You're not doing something that requires superior skill, you're just willing to dedicate the time to it. That doesn't mean you're better than someone that pays with cash, you just value your time differently. The amount I earn, I'd be far better off working an hour of overtime than spending an hour trading in game, so opting to make isk in game is actually the less efficient method of gaining isk.

You could earn more ISK by paying than playing is the definition of being bad in the game."Anyone can do it" is to be understood as "anyone can be a doctor". Both are true in the sense that anyone can study. But most don't, because they are lazy and dumb.

"You could earn more ISK by paying than playing is the definition of being bad in the game"No it isn't, it's the definition of being good in real life. I guarantee you couldn't earn close to the amount of isk I could buy with my overtime pay in the same timeframe.

""Anyone can do it" is to be understood as "anyone can be a doctor". Both are true in the sense that anyone can study. But most don't, because they are lazy and dumb."Except you're not a doctor, you do basic trading which anyone can do. Are you suggesting that the way you trade requires a remarkable amount of skill in the game? Oh and no, some people are incapable of becoming a doctor. No matter how many lessons they take, they simply wouldn't get it.

If you are so good in real life, why can't you be so good in a silly video game? Also, where are the in-game achievements you bought with your endless real money? Are you someone important in EVE? Or just another wallet warrior with a titan lossmail?

Trading needs multiple skills that might be obvious to you but not to most people. - don't spend your money but re-invest it! While they theoretically know this, they still end up with no seed money after years of playing.- don't 0.01, despite all the morons say that! Most people seriously argue for 0.01-ing. They will never get rich and no amount of teaching help them.- don't spend your limited playtime on pointless roams and trade instead. "but but but frig roaming is FUN"

"If you are so good in real life, why can't you be so good in a silly video game?"Because it's impossible to earn that much isk in a EVE.

"Also, where are the in-game achievements you bought with your endless real money? Are you someone important in EVE? Or just another wallet warrior with a titan lossmail?"I haven't spent all of my money on EVE as I'm not insane. I plex occasionally because EVE is a source of entertainment, not a second job. My point is that if I wanted more isk I'd earn it by working my job as that more efficient that slaving away in-game for pretend money. You for some reason think other people are stupid if they don't do what you do.

And what exactly are your achievements? You waste your life grinding isk every single day to fight a battle you can never win, and you have the nerve to claim that people who play games for fun are the morons. One day you'll look back on your life and say "what the hell did I waste all of that time for when I could have been doing something to improve myself in the real world".

"Trading needs multiple skills that might be obvious to you but not to most people. "Those aren't skills, they are basic rules. That's like saying:

Being a doctor requires the following skills:- Don't kill your patients- Make people better- Be punctual

Oh, so you COULD spend lot of money on EVE, but you don't, because you just play for fun. Got it.

Sorry, but I can't continue this discussion because one of my Lamborghinis needs to be taken to the jeweler who insert the diamonds on the wheels. But I won't show them to anyone because I just blog for fun.